17.251 | Fall 2016 | Undergraduate, Graduate

Congress and the American Political System I

Readings

Required Texts

[STE] = Stewart, Charles Haines. Analyzing Congress (The New Institutionalism in American Politics). W. W. Norton & Comapny, 2011. ISBN: 9780393935066.

[DOD] = Dodd, Lawrence C., and Bruce I. Oppenheimer, eds. Congress Reconsidered. 10th ed. Congressional Quarterly Press, 2012. ISBN: 9781452227825.

SES # TOPICS READINGS
1 Introduction No readings
2 Unidimensional spatial model

[STE] Chapter 1, pp. 3–23 and 47–49.

[DOD] Chapters 1 and 2.

3 Constitutional origins of Congress [STE] Stewart, Charles Haines. Chapter 2: The Constitutional Origins of Congress. (Appendix B)
4 Origin and development of Congress

[STE] Chapter 3.

[DOD] Chapter 16.

5 Congressional candidates

[STE] Chapter 4.

[DOD] Chapter 4.

6 Congressional voters

[STE] Chapter 5.

Abramson, Paul R., John H. Aldrich, and David W. Rohde. “The 2010 Congressional Elections.” Chapter 10 in Change and Continuity in the 2008 and 2010 Elections. CQ Press College, 2011. ISBN: 9781608717989.

7 Regulating congressional elections

[STE] Chapter 6.

[DOD] Chapters 5 and 6.

8 Multidimensional spatial model [STE] Chapter 1, pp. 23–47.
9 Congressional parties and leadership

[STE] Chapter 7.

[DOD] Chapter 7.

10 Congressional committees

[STE] Chapter 8.

[DOD] Chapter 8.

11 Rules of the chamber, roll call voting

[STE] Chapter 9.

[DOD] Chapters 9 and 10.

12 Review / wrap-up [DOD] Chapter 17.

Course Info

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Fall 2016
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